Citizen panel votes to endorse $3 billion corporate tax measure

Supporters of a $3 billion corporate tax measure on the November ballot notched another win on Sunday, when a slim majority of a panel overseen by the Citizens' Initiative Review Commission decided to endorse the measure.

That statement of support will be included in the state voter's pamphlet this fall. The 20-person panel narrowly avoided a tie, with 11 members supporting the measure and nine members opposed. The opponents' findings will also be included in the voter's pamphlet.

Last week, a City Club of Portland research committee recommended that group support Measure 97, although members still need to vote on an official position later this month.

Measure 97 would charge certain C corporations a 2.5 percent tax on their gross annual sales in Oregon above $25 million, a type of tax known as a gross receipts tax. Our Oregon, a political nonprofit backed by public employee unions, got the measure on the ballot and state economists have estimated it would raise at least $3 billion annually.

Read more: http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/08/citizen_panel_votes_to_endorse.html